Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima
Dovbysh · Patronal feast: 13 May
About the parish
Early 1989 — the founding group of twenty faithful registered the parish with the Baranivka District Administration and requested permission to build a temporary chapel and later a church.
13.06.1989 — Fr Vikentii Vitko from Novohrad-Volynskyi began visiting Dovbysh to provide priestly ministry. Construction of a wooden barrack-style chapel began under his leadership.
12.04.1990 — on Holy Thursday, the Pallottine Fathers began their permanent ministry at Dovbysh Parish through Fr Oleksandr Milevskyi. In August 1990, the newly ordained Pallottine priests Fr Stanisław Firut SAC and Fr Jarosław Olszewski SAC arrived from Poland.
September 1990 — regular catechesis began for children in the kindergarten and school, as well as for young people. The Sisters Servants of Jesus, Mariia P. and Marysia Ya., travelled from Zhytomyr to teach them.
05.10.1990 — Archbishop Francesco Colasuonno, Apostolic Nuncio to the Soviet Union, blessed the land for the church.
13.10.1990 — at 6:00 in the morning, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima left the Pallottine chapel in Zhytomyr and arrived at our parish with numerous pilgrims. It has remained with us ever since.
24.08.1991 — Bishop Jan Purwiński blessed the new foundations and cornerstone of the future church.
13.10.1991 — Jan Purwiński, Bishop of Kyiv-Zhytomyr, crowned the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, confirming the devotion that was spreading so rapidly among the faithful. On 08.05.1992, work began on the walls of the future church. The first brick was laid by the parish priest, Fr Oleksandr Milevskyi SAC.
May 1992 — Archbishop Antonio Franco, the first Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine, blessed the church construction and the people gathered there.
11.10.1992 — during the Fatima celebrations, the parish was consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
15.10.1995 — Fr Henryk Kietliński SAC from Poland, representing the Provincial Superior, solemnly blessed the newly built church.
25.12.2000 — Bishop Jan Purwiński issued a decree granting the church in Dovbysh the status of a diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima.
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